Yesterday, we kicked off our 2015 season at BC West. Therefore, we thought it would be appropriate to present you with a step by step of one of the more commonly used steelhead patterns at our lodge over the last few years, Hickman’s Fish Taco.

The Fish Taco was developed by Alaska West alum and steelhead guide, Jeff Hickman, and incorporates a bunch of features we like in a steelhead fly; it’s a breeze to cast, can be tied in virtually any color combination, and looks scary life-like in the water. We’ve seen it take both steelhead and king salmon alike, and would highly recommend it wherever anadramous fish are found.

Hickman’s Fish Taco – Tying Instructions

Tied by Stuart Foxall

Step 1: Tie in a stinger loop of wire to a waddington shank (or any other 35 mm shank). I’ve doubled the wire over and super glued it to secure. Please make sure that the loop isn’t too long as this could lead to deeply hooked fish.Step 2: Wrap in a dubbing ball of Ice Dub as a large hot spot. I’ve used chartreuse here but you can use any color combination that you like.Step 3: Tie in a length of oval silver tinsel.Step 4: Tie in a long cock hackle by the tip.Step 5: Wrap on a dubbed body of UV purple Ice Dub. I’ve done this by just spinning it onto the thread between finger and thumb as opposed to using a dubbing loop.Step 6: Palmer the hackle along the body of the fly. I’ve used very close wraps to give the fly some substance around the body.Step 7: Counter wrap the the body with the silver tinsel to protect the hackle stem from sharp fish teeth.Step 8: Tie in some ostrich feather fibers all around the shank. I like to alter the lengths of the fibers so that the fly looks more “natural” and tapered in the water.Step 9: Tie in some strands of holographic Flashabou around the shank of the fly. I like it tied all round so the fish can see the flash from whatever angle it sees the fly from. I’ve used red, blue and purple here, but color choice is up to you.Step 10: Tie in a nicely marked guinea fowl feather by the tip.Step 11: Wrap the guinea fowl feather around the shank as a hackle. This stiffer feather gives the fly some “shoulders” in faster flows.Step 12: Build a clean head, whip finish, cement, and get fishing!

This is another fly that’s relatively simple to tie and utilizes materials that are both easy to obtain and to work with. But don’t let this fool you into thinking it’s not an effective pattern. You would do well to have a selection of these babies in your steelhead or salmon box to cover all light and water conditions.

We have less than a month before we kick off our Alaska season and that means it won’t be long before we’ll be chucking big, gaudy, mouse patterns for our resident rainbow trout.

Mousing is by far our favorite way to target trout in our neck of the woods and one of our go-to patterns is the Mr. Hankey, developed on the banks of the Kanektok by Alaska West alum, Jeff Hickman.

The Mr. Hankey incorporates just about everything we like in a mouse pattern; it rides true, features a small up-riding hook for safer hook sets, and swims with a low profile in the water. But don’t take our word for it, read about it from the designer himself, here.

Some of you have asked for more detailed tying instructions for the Mr. Hankey, so today we offer you just that. Enjoy!

Mr. Hankey – Tying Instructions

Materials:

Thread: UTC 140 – Tan or Black

Shank: Any Long Shanked Up-Eye Hook

Stinger Hook: Owner SSW – Size 4

Stinger Loop: 30 lb. Fireline or 25 lb. Maxima Chameleon

Tail: Natural Zonker Cut Bunny Hide Trimmed of Fur

Body: Natural Crosscut Bunny Strip

Back: 1/8″ (3 mm) Closed Cell Foam Trimmed to Shape

Legs: Round Rubber Legs

Whiskers: Pearl Krystal Flash

Step 1: Start thread at the eye of the hook and advance in touching turns to the hook point.Step 2: Tie in a stinger loop long enough to loop up and over a size 4 Owner SSW stinger hook. Cover loop material with forward wraps of thread, double over, wrap back to hook point, and coat with super glue for added security. We used 30 lb. fireline for our stinger loop, but the original pattern calls for 25 lb. Maxima Chameleon.Step 3: Trim fur from a natural zonker cut rabbit strip and tie in as a tail.Step 4: Catch in a natural crosscut rabbit strip at the tail. Wrap forward to the middle of the hook shank and tie off. Note: DON”T trim rabbit strip.Step 5: Pre-cut 1/8″ (3 mm) foam to shape. Note: Ears will be trimmed once the fly is completeStep 6: Tie in foam onto the top of the shank. Note: Make sure to make several loose wraps of thread before cinching down to avoid cutting foam.Step 7: Tie in 2-4 rubber legs on each side of the body. Trim to length.Step 8: Continue wrapping rabbit strip forward to the front of the fly. Tie off, trim, and build a nice head. This will help the ears to stand up when finished.Step 9: Bind down foam at the front of the fly. Once again, be sure to lay down a good base of thread wraps before tightening to avoid cutting foam.Step 10: Double over 4 stands of pearl Krystal Flash and tie in on top of foam using criss-cross wraps of thread. Trim to length to cause whiskers to flare (Scroll down to top view for a better look at whiskers).Step 11: Pull back foam lip, build a clean head, whip finish, and cement.Step 12: Trim ‘ears’ to shape. Tip: Make a single cut down the center of the ears FIRST and round off corners with as few cuts as possible.Step 13: Attach stinger hook (sz. 4 Owner SSW) to loop by looping through the eye of the hook. Cut the bend of the hook from the original shank off as close to the stinger loop as possible, and get fishing!

Jeff Hickman is a two-handed rod steelhead guide from Oregon who owns Fish The Swing LLC. He is a signature Idylwilde flies tier and Deneki veteran who will be joining us again this season to guide kings at Alaska West. Here is a quick little tip from Jeff about fly selection when targeting Chinook salmon.

Size Matters

It seems the trend in king flies is the bigger is better mindset. While big flies do work well to elicit the big grab of a king in most water conditions, so do smaller flies and they are a lot easier to cast. When king fishing, especially when wading and spey casting, a big fly can be really cumbersome and difficult to cast all day long.

If your cast is not turning over well because the fly you are throwing is too big or too heavy, it is not going to be fishing effectively and it doesn’t matter how good it looks in the water!

In most conditions I prefer an unweighted, easy to cast fly like a Fish Taco or Flash Taco or lightly weighted flies like Brian Silvey’s Silveynator or Tandem Tube.

I find fly choice is important, but what I find to be more important than the fly choice is the fly depth and presentation speed. Kings like the fly to be at the right depth and speed. Sometimes that is deep and sometimes that is shallow, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. It all depends on the water conditions and the mood of the fish.

If you are casting well and your easy-to-cast fly is turning over straight at the angle you need, then your mends and the sink time of the fly are most likely going to be where they need to be – resulting in more fish eating your fly!

Look Ma, Both Hands!

Steelhead and Chinook are both incredibly wild creatures that depend on wild rivers to seed the next generation of their ocean exploring offspring. I know of no river more wild than BC’s Dean River. No dams, no agriculture, no roads, no development. Just glaciers, snow pack and rain to fluctuate the river’s flow every day. When I arrived on the Dean in mid July the water was high but strangely clear from the lack of its normal glacial green color. This was the result of last winter’s abnormally large snow pack, an abnormally cool spring, and an abnormally rainy early summer.

This left us fishing in many spots with our back up against the bushes and not able to wade far from shore. One spot in particular stands out in my mind from that trip as a perfect example of the challenge. Archaeological was the name – a wonderful looking run full of big boulders and pockets, nice bouncy textured surface, perfect walking speed, my definition of perfect steelhead water. Only problem was this spot was a chest deep wade hanging on to the over hanging alder branches the whole way. I call spots like this the double black diamond runs, they are not for kids, or for those without a two handed rod. With modern short-head lines and spey casts you can step in to runs like this with full confidence. Jim and I stepped into Archaeological on the last day of our trip with full confidence and we were rewarded big.

Our reward that day wouldn’t have been remotely possible without our spey rods. When swinging a fly there is no doubt that the two-hander offers huge advantages in various fishing situations. Many people believe the spey rod is strictly for long distance casting. I am often asked by spey virgins, “how far can you cast a spey rod?” Truth is, I’m not sure. While long distance casts are possible with the two-hander, that is not the primary benefit of using one. Long distance casts can certainly be advantageous to reach those far away fish, but far more important than a long cast, is the fact that when spey fishing, the fly is in the water fishing so much more of the time. There is no wasted time in the air on back and false casts, or worse, snagged in the trees and bushes behind you. One cannot under estimate the importance of this, especially when you are making hundreds of casts in a day. This adds up to a lot more time your fly is actually fishing – some days it would be like getting two whole days worth of fishing in one!

With the spey rod, there is no need for casting room behind you. This is especially helpful when streamside trees and bushes are present or when challenging wading conditions exist. There are many fish holding close to shore and in spots where deep wading is not possible. With a spey rod you can comfortably cast wading close to shore and effectively present your fly to those fish. Too often when people are fishing with a single-hander, they are forced to wade deep and not even show their flies to those close to shore fish. In addition, it is much safer to wade closely to shore and not risk a dangerous swim.

With the longer rod comes better fly control and mending ability. Once the cast is made, the true benefits of the spey rod are utilized. With the long length of rod you can easily elevate the line off the water and make effortless mends to control the depth and speed of the fly. By holding the long rod angled across the current you can slow the fly on the outside of the swing, and by changing the angle towards the near bank you can speed the fly up and ensure that it fishes through the water straight below you on the hang down.

Spey casting is much easier to learn than you think. A good instructor is invaluable – even just a short one hour private lesson on the water will increase your learning curve exponentially. Even when teaching someone who is a very experienced single-handed caster, most of the time they will be fishing much more efficiently within an hour of learning to cast the two-hander. Outside of a good instructor to get you off on the right foot, the biggest factor to quickly learning to spey cast is having a good line matched to the rod for the type of fishing that you would like to do. A good instructor can also help you find a good rod/line match. Modern lines make casting so much easier! The evolution of spey lines in the last ten years has been radically fast and has made learning and fishing unbelievably more enjoyable.

If you haven’t already, I hope that you give the two-hander a try. I think you too will find that using both hands is more fun and it will change your world forever. Plus, spey fishermen have longer rods. What’s not to like?

Jeff Hickman is back again. You know him as a go-to steelhead guide in Oregon. He is also part of the Ross and SA Professional Advisory teams, Guideline Eyegear pro staff and a Signature tier for Idylwilde.

Jeff will be returning to host a group at BC West this summer and he is already counting down the days.

Here’s the setup that Jeff prefers for removing sea lice from chrome steelhead on the Dean.

The Summary

Ross Reach 7130-4

Ross F1 size 5

Scientific Anglers Skagit Extreme, 520 grains

The Detail

275 yards of 30lb Dacron backing, attached to the spool with an arbor knot

Scientific Anglers Floating Monocore Shooting Line 25lb, .030″ ”I loop both ends of the running line. This is best done by doubling the end over itself and securing a 10″ loop with two nail knots of 16lb Scientific Anglers Freshwater Tippet. I loop one end to a non-slip loop knot in the backing.”

Skagit Extreme Head, looped to the other loop in the front end of the running line

Scientific Anglers T-12 tip, cut to 8 – 14 foot lengths, attached to the Skagit head using the factory loops

4″ Butt section of 25lb Scientific Anglers Freshwater Tippet attached to the leader end of the tip using an Albright knot

2 to 3 feet of 16lb Scientific Anglers Fluorocarbon Tippet, looped to the butt section with a non-slip mono loop

The Commentary

“In mid July on the Dean, having higher water conditions with a fair amount of color is common. This means that the steelhead are more comfortable and will typically travel and hold closer to the edges in fairly shallow water. It’s often not necessary to wade deep, cast far or try to dredge the bottom. The lighter setup with the 13’ 7″ weight rod is plenty to put 15+ pound steelhead on the beach, and it’s much more enjoyable to cast and fish all day than a heavier, longer rod. What is important is that you have a reel with a reliable drag system and one that can hold a lot of backing! I have been spooled on the Dean – it happens regularly. The new Ross F1 size 5 reel can hold a ton of backing and the sound it makes when it’s spinning at warp speed is one of my favorites!”

Jeff Hickman, as you probably know by now, is a long-time veteran of fishing in the Northwest. He’s spent a whole bunch of years guiding at Alaska West, and he knows his way around Oregon pretty good too. Oh yeah, the Ross and Idylwilde Pro Staffs somehow let him in the door.

Want to know how Jeff rigs himself up to chase the incredible rainbow trout of Western Alaska? Read on.

If you’re interested in a whole bunch more information about Alaskan rainbow trout – including tips, gear reviews, expert rigs and more – you should check out our All About Rainbow Trout page.

Non-slip mono loop to either a Mr Hankey or Egg Sucking Super Sculpin. “With these guys, the bigger the fly the bigger the fish. These are two must-have flies for Alaska.”

The Commentary

I like to use a 7 weight because it will throw the bigger sized flies with better accuracy and land the big boys. Also, hooking salmon on these rivers on trout flies is not uncommon.

I think the SA Magnum is the best taper for throwing big bugs, and the mist color won’t spook fish in low, clear water

My preferred method for rainbow fishing at Alaska West is pounding the bank both on foot in side channels or out of the boat while rowing downriver. This is best done with repetitive accurate casts as close to the bank as possible, keeping a tight line swinging and stripping with a mouse pattern or streamer.

Rainbow trout in the Kanektok and Arolik Rivers are one of my favorite species to pursue. To me the trout in those rivers are a lot like summer steelhead. They can be the same size, they eat swung flies both top water or subsurface and they fight hard with jumps and long runs when hooked. The biggest differences between the two is the rainbows are mostly non migratory, they are speckled with a lot more spots and they are really hungry…no fly is too big for them!

To deliver these big flies with accurate casts tight to the bank you need the right setup – a fast action rod with the accuracy to put the fly where it needs to be, but also the backbone and sensitivity to land the fish after its hooked, an aggressively weight forward tapered line to throw a giant fly and a reel with a strong, reliable drag to keep them out of the root balls!

Don’t Cast Too Far.

For some reason, people equate spey rods to long casts. Sure you can cast a spey rod far but that is not the main advantage of using one. Much of the time if you are casting too far, that is a disadvantage! The real advantage is that your fly stays in the water fishing longer, you can control your swing much better with the longer rod and you can cast using much less effort and with limited room behind you.

Some spots do require a long cast to fish effectively, but not many. Most spots the fish lay out of the heavy current not far off the shoreline. When you cast way out into the fast water, the fly doesn’t sink at all. The heavy tension on it can wreck the speed of the fly when it swings into the softer holding water where the fish are more likely to be. More importantly, when you cast long the fly doesn’t swing effectively all the way in below you – meaning you aren’t even fishing the whole spot!

Finally, never underestimate the water right in front of you that can only be covered with a really short cast. The grab with only a few feet of line out is savage!